Bryan Kingsford

The United States Constitution is an amazing document enshrining many principles that serve to protect our freedom. It's the supreme law of our land. All federal government representatives take an oath to support it. Why do almost all of our candidates for president in 2008 promote actions that violate the Constitution?

For example, while I agree with much of what Mitt Romney says, the following quote from his campaign website shows contempt for the constitution:

"While the government already invests heavily in defense, space and health technologies, it is time to invest substantially in technologies related to power generation, nanotechnology, and materials science."

The Constitution enumerates certain powers allowed by the federal government. While it may seem like a good idea to invest in these things, this activity is not one of them.

All other candidates except Ron Paul seem to treat the Constitution has just a ^%$# piece of paper as President Bush expressed.

1) They are breaking the law and every time someone disobeys the law without retribution, that particular law as well as the rule of law is weakened (people are more likely to break the law in the future).

2) They are more likely to commit crimes in our country because they are generally poor and less educated.

3) Many will not pay sufficient taxes to offset the benefits they can get such as education, and use of roads. This creates a greater tax burden on others.

4) Illegal immigrants tend to be poor and willing to perform work for less than legal immigrants or citizens. This puts companies who don’t hire illegally at a competitive disadvantage.

5) Out of fear of deportation, illegal immigrants represent a class of people easily exploited by criminals.

6) The regulatory cost to employ someone is so high (e.g., FICA) there’s a strong incentive to employ someone illegally. This puts legal prospective employees at a significant disadvantage.

7) Terrorists entering the country.

So you want to raise the minimum wage. Why not mandate low prices for food, shelter, and everything else. Unfortunately all these ideas are equally foolish for a number of reasons, not the least of which is that it will hurt the people you want to help.

The formula for any particular business to be successful is complex and requires great flexibility, which is why most new businesses fail in the first year. Do you really think a few bureaucrats in Washington can fiddle with the formula for a successful business and not cause serious repercussions? It’s hard enough to build a successful business without Congress reducing our freedom and telling us to do it with one arm tied behind our backs while jumping up and down on one foot.

In the following blog entry I illustrate using a scenario involving the fictional ACME Doorbell Company why setting a minimum wage is an incredibly ignorant idea.

http://pseudorandommusings.blogspot.com/2007/01/mi...

Our government is based on the truth that all people have unalienable rights and that among these are the right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Personally I don’t believe these rights include the right to receive something for nothing (e.g., food stamps, medical care), but I do believe a right to pursue employment is reasonably included. If someone wishes to work for compensation of some sort, they should be able to negotiate with someone for that job without interference from a government. I believe this right extends to all people in the world, not just U. S. citizens. Laws that interfere with this right are unjust such as: minimum wage and a requirement for citizenship. Government exists to protect our rights, not take them away.